Iraq's historic polls open

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Iraqi Interim President Ghazi al-Yawer holds up his ink-stained finger after casting his vote in the Iraqi elections in Baghdad.Photo: AP

Iraq's first multiparty election in half a century began at dawn
on today.

The poll is intended to unite the country after the US-led
defeat of dictator Saddam Hussein, but it could instead foment
sectarian strife.

Insurgents have vowed to create a bloodbath.

Polls opened at 7am (15:00 AEDT) on a chilly, dark morning and
were due to stay open until 5pm (01:00 AEDT).

Interim President Ghazi al-Yawar was one of the first to cast
his vote, inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone complex. He
emerged with one finger of his right hand stained with bright blue
ink, used to prevent voters casting multiple ballots.

He said he hoped all Iraqis would follow his lead.

To try to prevent feared violence, Iraq was under a security
lockdown.

Borders were sealed, airports closed and only official vehicles
allowed on the streets after heavy bloodshed on the eve of voting,
including a bold rocket strike that killed two Americans at the US
embassy compound in the Green Zone.

Insurgents also killed 17 Iraqis and an American soldier in
other attacks across Iraq yesterday.

A suicide bomber struck a US-Iraqi security centre in the town
of Khanaqin, northeast of the Iraqi capital. The US military said
three Iraqi soldiers and five civilians were killed in that
incident.

The embassy attack deepened fears of an insurgent blitz on
election day and demonstrated their ability to strike at the heart
of the interim government and US power in their vast fortified
complex on the west bank of the river Tigris.

It could also worsen fears of Iraq's 14.2 million registered
voters about casting ballots in the first election since Saddam was
toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003.

Iraq's 60 per cent-majority Shi'ites, oppressed for decades
under Saddam, are expected to dominate the polls.

Kurds, who make up nearly a fifth of Iraqis, want a result that
enables them to enshrine their autonomous rule in the north.

Insurgent groups, including a jihadist faction led by al-Qaeda's
leader in Iraq, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have vowed
to bomb ''infidel'' polling stations and kill anyone who dares to
vote.

''For the last time, we warn that (the election) will be bloody
for the Christians and Jews and their mercenaries and whoever takes
part in the (election) game of America and Allawi,'' Zarqawi's
group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website, referring
to interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Many Iraqis promised to brave the threats, but others were
afraid of being targeted at voting places or afterwards, worried
that the indelible blue ink on their index fingers could mark them
for death.

Washington hopes the ballot will help transform Iraq from
dictatorship to democracy but it risks worsening the insurgency by
further alienating Iraq's 20 per cent-minority Sunni Arabs, who
formed the backbone of Saddam's ruling class.

Several leading Sunni parties are boycotting the polls, saying
the insurgency raging strongest in the Sunni heartlands and the
presence of more than 150,000 US-led troops will make it impossible
to hold a fair vote.

Majority Shi'ites, long oppressed under Saddam, are expected to
cement their newfound dominance.

An alliance formed under the guidance of the top Shi'ite cleric,
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is almost certain to win the most
votes.

Even if an alliance of secular Shi'ites led by Allawi does not
do well, he is seen as a strong consensus candidate to possibly
stay on in office.

But under-representation of Sunni Arabs could undermine the
credibility of a new 275-seat national assembly and increase the
risk of sectarian conflict.

The campaign unfolded in a climate of such intimidation that
most candidates kept their names secret and even the locations of
polling places were kept under wraps to the last moment.

Iraq's nascent security forces now face a test of their resolve.
Police, Iraqi troops and US soldiers were to be arrayed in
concentric circles around more than 5,000 polling places. '

US and British forces have been ordered to stand back to avoid
the impression of Iraqis voting under occupiers' guns. US troops
will have rapid-response teams on standby if needed.

But many Iraqis voiced doubts their security services would be
able to protect them when they hardly have been able to protect
themselves from insurgents who brand them collaborators.

Under pressure to start bringing US troops home after the
election, President George Bush said their mission must keep going
to help the new government get its footing.

''Terrorist violence will not end with the election,'' he
said.

Iraqi officials hope for a turnout of at least 50 per cent to
lend legitimacy to the outcome. Officials expect preliminary
results in six to seven days and final results in about 10
days.